Title: Home Pickling of Olives - Part 3
Categories: Pickle Info
Yield: 4 Servings

None

With a clean, damp cloth, wipe the rims or threads of the jars, or the rubber rings. (1) To use a metal lid that has sealing compound and a metal screw band, place the lid on the filled jar and screw the metal band on tight by hand before processing. This type of container and closure does not need to be exhausted prior to processing. (2) To use a glass or zinc lid, or tin cans, exhaust the filled jar or can. When using rubber rings, have the wet ring in place on jar or lid and place the lid on the jar. To use a screw band over a glass lid, or a zinc cap, screw on the band or cap very loosely, just starting it in its groove. For the lightning type jar, leave short wire up. Leave lids off tin cans.

To Exhaust Jars

Put jars or cans on the rack in canner. They may stand in water up to 2 inches from tops. Leave space between them so that steam can circulate. Place lid on canner, leave lid unfastened, and petcock open or vent pipe uncovered. Bring water in canner to a boil. Do not let water boil into jars.

Keep the jars or cans in the steam (exhaust) for 10 minutes. Remove lid from canner. Immediately tighten jar lids completely; on glass lids, screw down bands or lower bails; screw down zinc lids. Seal tin cans by placing a lid on each can and using can sealer.

To Exhaust Canner

Before processing the jars, let the steam escape long enough to drive out all the air.

1. Arrange the hot, filled jars on the canner rack so that they do not touch each other or the canner wall.

2. Completely fasten the canner lid; leave the petcock open or the vent pipe uncovered. Let a stream of steam escape from the petcock for at least 10 minutes. All the air must be removed so that the temperature will become high enough and the heat evenly distributed.

To Process

Close the petcock or put on the weighted gauge. Process for 60 minutes at 10 pounds (240 degrees F.) or slightly above. For each 1,000 feet elevation above sea level, increase the pressure by 1 half pound. Start counting time when the required pressure is reached. Control the heat to keep the pressure constant at the desired point. If the pressure falls below that recommended, the olives may not be safe to eat.

To Release Steam

Turn off the head or remove the canner from the heat without tilting it. Do not set on a cold surface. Let the pressure return to zero before opening petcock. Open the petcock gently and gradually. If glass jars are used, wait 1 or 2 minutes after the pressure has reached zero before opening the petcock, but do not wait longer.

To Cool and Open Canner

If glass jars are used, allow the canner to cool for 15 minutes after the petcock is opened before releasing the led of the canner. If it took more than 20 minutes for the gauge to return to zero, this wait may be omitted. To remove the canner lid, first lift the side farthest away, so the lid will protect you against steam. If lid is removed immediately after the steam is released through the petcock, let the jars cool for 10 or 15 minutes before lifting them out. Do not let a draft strike the jars.

If cans are used, open the petcock, and remove the pressure canner lid when the pressure has returned to zero. Plunge the cans into cold water.

To Remove Jars

Do not in any way disturb the seal of a jar after the processing. If you attempt to tighten the lid of a sealed jar that you have just removed from the canner, it is almost certain to spurt of burst. Use a jar lifter to remove the jars from the canner, or hold a cloth or dish towel over the top of the jar to lift it.

Bubbling within a jar, when it is removed from the canner after having cooled somewhat, is a sign of a good seal. It shows that the contents are boiling under vacuum.

Steam pockets frequently form in the flesh of olives that are home canned in glass jars. If the pocket formation is so extensive that the olives are honeycombed, they will lose firmness. This harmless defect does not normally occur in tin cans. From: Michael Sierchio

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